Re: monopoly

On Mon, 02 Aug 1999, Harold Orlans <horlans[_at_]erols.com> wrote:
>
> Re the 20-year copyright extension: Some experience with the effects
> of this extension has already been gained in Britain. It inhibits
> publication of new and cheaper editions of classics and extends the
> life of older, more expensive, slow-selling editions. Publishers
> eak out additional revenue from their investment in an old edition,
> so long as their monopoly stops rivals from issuing a cheaper
> competing edition.

Is there a serious study?

> There seem to be no anti-trust provisions in publishing: no price
> regulation; no requirement that copyright owners (such as owners of
> unpublished writing deposited in library archives) provide equal access
> to all; no avenue of appeal against an owner's discriminatory treatment
> of different users. Elsewhere in our economy monopoly is regulated to
> protect the public; in publishing (except for the uncertain, limited,
> and diminishing rights of fair use) it remains supreme.

In the 1970s, a number of U.S. publishers signed a consent decree, I recall, to break up what had been the traditional international market division between British and U.S. publishers. The ability to order books across publishers' agreed distribution borders has always been available to buyers. Certain booksellers made it their business to sell the English edition to U.S. libraries.

Price regulation is rare in any industry these days, even in agricultural markets that once benefited from government price supports.

Unpublished writings are subject to privacy considerations as well as to copyright. Copyright owners may destroy them if they wish, as well as grant permission to look but not publish.

I doubt that publishers collectively agree on territories, royalties, trade discounts, coop bonuses, salary schedules, etc. Publishers negotiate with authors, employees, vendors, and customers all the time. Authors even have agents.

If there is a compelling argument to change, I would be interested to hear it.

Albert Henderson
Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY
<70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Tue Aug 03 1999 - 21:35:36 GMT